BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by pburrows145 »

Change will come to the app, you will fall in love... trust me.

(However, as a side note, we can see number of active users (anonymously) and it's insanely popular as a ratio of users versus scanners - I am happy with the adoption).

Plus, there might be other cool stuff in the pipeline too... (well, there always is).

Stay happy!
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by Scott.Warren »

pburrows145 wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:14 pm Plus, there might be other cool stuff in the pipeline too... (well, there always is).
But who is it meant for? :lol: Spot is a cool dog-bot, but it sucks seeing the attention go toward an expensive gimmick instead of fixing the issues like Field360 & P-Series levelness.
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by Scott.Warren »

pburrows145 wrote: Fri Sep 17, 2021 2:14 pm Plus, there might be other cool stuff in the pipeline too... (well, there always is).
But who is it meant for? :lol: Spot is a cool dogo-bot, but it sucks seeing the attention go toward an expensive gimmick instead of fixing the issues like Field360 & P-Series levelness.
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by pburrows145 »

Different teams, different divisions... there's no "diversion" of effort...

The P-Series levelness issue (for some people) is being looked into.
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by tkm »

RJGEOMATICS wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:27 pm Since I hate Field360... I simply want never to see a BLK or any other scanner made again, without Removable Media.
Agree with the last part, this non-removable / wifi-only experiment adds complexity and continues to be a massive pain for both newbies & veterans alike.

RJGEOMATICS wrote: Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:27 pm I keep trying again and again with Field360 to like it...

As of v3.0 I find Field360 is serviceable and reliable enough. Just note that many issues and error messages can be quickly cleared by closing and restarting the app (instead of the scanner or tablet).

For people who aren't laser scanning everyday it is good being able to review scan data while onsite. The workflow makes it very clear that while you can start some barebones registration work in the field, you cannot finish it without Cyclone in the office. But it gives you something to do while you while you wait during scans.

Recently Leica introduced Quick Plan, an interesting feature allowing exports of scanned room volumes in .DXF and .IFC. But a subscription inside of a subscription is a bit much...

Meanwhile the new Trimble X7 writes to any decent generic SD card and the bundled Perspective software allows you to roughly register and export scans using the field tablet only. While not ideal in many circumstances, it gives users much more flexibility. Plus they are releasing major post-launch updates like field target-based georeferencing and laser-pointer measurements.

Hope the RTC360 LT is not the last we will see of Leica's response to the X7...
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by TommyMaddox »

I wouldn't say non removable media is necessarily a deal-breaker, it just depends on the overall configuration and options. I don't own the X7, BLK360 or RTC360, so I'm going to refrain from commenting on their media situation, but I make the below options work very well in high volume applications.

1. The FAROs run SDHC/XC cards which are cheap and plentiful, but not the fastest read/write speeds. The availability anywhere from almost any store is very convenient at times however. We prefer to run high speed 64GB cards. They're dirt cheap, reasonably fast, and don't hold so much that you would be in a terrible situation if one of them died. The compact raw data files actually copy over fairly quickly, you can use multiple SD card readers simultaneously without saturating a USB bus. The cards are so cheap you could also opt to have a secondary archive of raw scans by using the SD cards only until they're full and then storing them somewhere safe.

2. The Riegl VZ-400i has an internal 1TB SSD, this is extremely fast, but IMHO is hamstrung by the USB 3.0 port which with a power limit of 1A, thus cannot power the latest in high speed portable SSDs like the Samsung T7. It does have gigabit ethernet (and SDHC/XC card option), and the ability to direct write over ethernet to your laptop saves time vs copying over to a device, and then copying from the device to your PC, but the gigabit speeds are not remotely comparable to a T7, and more closely align with the high speed SDHC cards. The nice thing about the 1TB SSD is that it acts as a temporary backup for the duration of most projects, I'd estimate it would take 7 full 12 hour days of scanning to fill it up, which means you can usually leave raw project data on the device for quite some time if needed.

In my eyes the only area that the X7 excels over other units on the market is the built in 'mini-calibration lab' and 2 year warrant. It's some cool stuff especially for new folks and mom and pop shops that are only going to have 1 unit. Every other area of the product and its operations and model doesn't demonstrate anything of value or interest to me.
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by pburrows145 »

I think the LT came before the X7... certainly it was not a response to it, but a planned variant.
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by RJGEOMATICS »

pburrows145 wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 12:53 pm
I think the LT came before the X7... certainly it was not a response to it, but a planned variant.
Some learned ABCs in school. I learned ABFs. Anybody but Faro. As I always say. If need be I'll use a Faro Scanner, but it'll be registered in Cyclone or Realworks.

Can still remember all the excitement the day RTC was released at HxGN. Wow. Simply amazing the global buzz. And so true many people are not even aware the RTC360 LT edition even exist.

Then we have the BLK360 and I now carry a BLK360 with me everywhere just like a DSLR camera.

The best scanner, is the scanner you have with you. And the BLK360 and BLK2GO you can carry with you everywhere, everyday.
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by Mike Annear »

RJGEOMATICS wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 6:53 pm
pburrows145 wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 12:53 pm
I think the LT came before the X7... certainly it was not a response to it, but a planned variant.
Then we have the BLK360 and I now carry a BLK360 with me everywhere just like a DSLR camera.
I think the BLK360 would be closer to a Pin-Hole camera than a DSLR :)
BLK360 data is very Fuzzy, I cant image the data from a BLK2GO bolted to a drone or robot dog is any better.
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Re: BLK Autonomy Announcement tomorrow!!

Post by RJGEOMATICS »

Mike Annear wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 11:06 pm
RJGEOMATICS wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 6:53 pm
pburrows145 wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 12:53 pm
I think the LT came before the X7... certainly it was not a response to it, but a planned variant.
Then we have the BLK360 and I now carry a BLK360 with me everywhere just like a DSLR camera.
I think the BLK360 would be closer to a Pin-Hole camera than a DSLR :)
BLK360 data is very Fuzzy, I cant image the data from a BLK2GO bolted to a drone or robot dog is any better.
Mike

Different levels of data for different classes. Faro S series and Leica P series data will look fuzzy next to the Artec Ray, Surphaser, MS 60 and even the C10 data for that matter.

Some jobs a Velodyne puck is good enough. All is relative. And with really good field and registration procedures you'd be surprised how good BLK360 data can look.

On all jobs we run the BLK360 as redundancy and checks. Even when the ultimate clean Pointcloud tool the classic Leica C10 with the 3R laser unleashed we still grab BLK360 scans as secondary checks and for imagery.

Just so convenient and cost effective to carry a BLK360 with you everywhere. Even visiting a job for proposals you can grab a couple quick scans without pulling the RTC360 or P or C series out of production.

Sure the BLK360 isn't the crispness of the classic Leica C10 but few scanners are until you get into metrology grade scanners.
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